New Delhi: Afghanistan batsman Bahir Shah Mahboob has achieved something that even the most exemplary of past and present batting greats couldn't, i.e., having a batting average better than Don Bradman.

Afghanistan cricket is making rapid progress in the international arena and their senior team will make its Test debut later this year, which testifies their growing stature in the sport. And with batsmen like Shah, the country's cricketing future is in safe hands.

Shah, an under-19 cricketer, has gone past Bradman in having the best batting average for batsmen with more than 1,000 first-class runs.

In seven first-class matches in his career thus far, Shah has scored 1,096 runs in 12 innings, which gives him an average of 121.77 - better than the Don. He plays for the Speen Ghar Region in the Afghan domestic cricket.

He scored 256 not out on debut, making it the second best knock by a batsman making first-class debut. Besides, he also has a triple hundred to his name, which puts him second only to the great Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad in terms of the youngest to achieve the landmark.

Shah is currently in New Zealand with the Afghanistan U-19 team for the World Cup beginning January 13.

"I've started very well in the warm-up matches in Napier. They were good sides with first-class players, but we played four matches and won all four. It's a very good chance for every youngster to promote his career, so I'm trying very hard to have a good performance at this World Cup," Shah told icc-cricket.com.